


A clinch for the pinch server

by RussianSunflower3



Series: Sunflower's Yamaguchi week 2015 [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Asahi hugs are best hugs, Day 5, Gen, Hugs, I wouldn't have nothing if I didn't have you, Team is for life, Teammates//Crows, Yamaguchi Week 2K15
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 05:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5194334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RussianSunflower3/pseuds/RussianSunflower3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yamaguchi's had a really bad day. All he wants is a hug!</p>
            </blockquote>





	A clinch for the pinch server

“I could really use a hug about now...” Yamaguchi spoke quietly, pitifully to the bathroom mirror, his fingers pressing into his freckles and dusting over a new laceration on his cheek. It had come from a few minutes ago in class, when someone had thrown a pen to their friend, but it had wildly gone off course and smacked Yamaguchi in the face. The nib had cut into his skin, a very thin cut, and yet rather painful. It stung like a papercut. He’d been dismissed to the bathrooms to clean the cut for ink, a precaution against blood poisoning. Still, even though it was little more than a reddish line amongst his freckles, Yamaguchi felt... Upset. Clingy. He always had been sensitive.

Unfortunately for him, the feeling that gripped him was here to stay until he _got that damn hug_. He knew there was no point asking Tsukishima, and he didn’t feel brave enough to ask anyone else. He sighed, dabbing some damp rolled up toilet paper over the incision and threw it away. He couldn’t avoid class forever. As he walked to his desk, he felt Tsukishima’s eyes brush over him, a silent question asking if he was okay. Yamaguchi smiled his way cheerfully, a mask over that need that settled in his bones. He wanted a hug. Not even from a person, even a stuffed toy would do. All he had to do was get through the rest of the day, then he could get home, throw himself onto his bed, and embrace every single stuffed animal on his bed at once. 

_‘I can definitely hold on that long.’_ He peacefully started on the classwork, but quickly realised that his bathroom trip had cost precious seconds. Before he could take down all the notes, the teacher rubbed the board clean. The pit in Yamaguchi’s stomach grew. He rushed to catch up, not really processing what he writing down as he copied down the new information the teacher was writing. Yamaguchi wasn’t even listening. 

“-Chi. Yamaguchi! I asked you to answer a question!” A ruler smacked down his desk next to his frantically scribbling hand and he shrieked, jumping out of his chair with a mini heart attack. The teacher looked at him with narrowed eyes, shook his head disappointingly, and then moved onto the next student. Yamaguchi bit into his bottom lip, shuffled nervously in his seat, tugged at the long sleeves of his blazer, and hunched over slightly. 

That want for a hug was turning into a need - a craving that devoured him from inside out. His hands shook as he picked his pen back up and started writing once more. His handwriting was bad from the shakes, the kanji almost indecipherable. He’d never be able to make sense of them later. With a deep exhale through his nose, he placed the pen back down and waited for the lesson to be over. 

The longer it dragged on, the worse he felt. The small shock from earlier had stirred up anxiety in his gut and it mixed with his comfort-starved emotion to create a churning that made his stomach squeeze and the bitter taste of bile flood his throat. It didn’t help that he’d already felt nauseous since lunchtime, having watched Hinata and Kageyama shove food down their throats like it was their life’s mission to disgust people. 

_‘Thinking about it, I was dizzy this morning too... Must have just been dehydration. Although I was sluggish waking up. But that’s from staying up to do homework too late! I’m not coming down with something.’_ He kept thinking the last statement over and over again in an attempt to fully convince himself and wipe away that small patch of doubt. A poke to his shoulder had him jump again a little and his stomach lurched. He held it in with a soft hum of confusion as he looked up at Tsukishima. His classmate tilted his head with an unamused expression.

“Lesson finished about a minute ago. Stop daydreaming or we’ll be late.”

“A-ah yes! Sorry, Tsukki!”

“Tch.” He got up from his desk to follow and grabbed his bag, not realising it was still open. The contents spilled across the floor. Yamaguchi stared at the mess for a heartbreaking moment before he heard Tsukishima sigh.

“S-sorry Tsukki...”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.” He collected the items from the floor on his hands and knees, feeling little bits of dirt dig into his palms from where one of his classmates had forgotten to change into indoor shoes. A small smile finally came to his face when Tsukishima held out his pencil case, having used the least amount of effort to grab the closest thing to him. But it was still effort, and Yamaguchi appreciated that.

“Thanks Tsukki~!”

“Mhm. Just hurry up. I don’t want to run laps if we’re late.” The corners of Yamaguchi’s lips twitched upwards. In the time it had taken him to pick up his belongings, this time checking his bag was zipped closed; the rest of the team would already have filled the clubroom. They headed over their casually, Yamaguchi humming softly under his breath as he payed attention to the little things.

How blue the sky was, how sweetly the birds chirped, and how pretty the grass was as it swayed in the pleasant breeze. There was a small skip in his step as he picked up the volume, watching Tsukishima quirk a very faint smile before trying to mask it as a cough. Yamaguchi knew there was no music coming through the blonds headphones. That was just a ruse so that nobody tried to talk to him. With a snicker, Yamaguchi fell into step besides him, leaning against Tsukishima’s arm playfully.

“For years I have envied! Your grace and your _charm_.”

“Yamaguchi, no.”

“Everybody loves you, you know!” He could see Tsukishima fighting back a snicker.

“Yamaguchi, shut up.”

“But I must admit it, **big guy** , you always come though~!” 

“Oi~...”

“I wouldn’t have nothing if I didn’t have you~!” Yamaguchi jumped in Tsukishima’s path and gave him jazz hands, a sense of pride welling up inside as Tsukishima raised an eye brow with a thinly-disguised smirk. Honey ochre eyes rolled and Tsukishima gently pushed Yamaguchi aside. 

“Stop being dumb, we’re undeniably late now.” As he spoke these words, he didn’t notice Yamaguchi shuffle backwards and promptly trip over his own clumsy legs.

“Eep!” Tsukishima spun around to see his friend in the dust, rubbing at his sore backside. He sighed at the common occurrence, not knowing that Yamaguchi’s previous sadness had returned full-force. The glimmer in his eyes wasn’t amusement at his situation, but unshed tears at the sick, unsettled feeling of discomfort.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah! Sorry Tsukki! Just a bump~...” Yamaguchi shook off his sensitivity and scrambled to his feet to chase after Tsukishima who had continued walking off. He brushed the dust from his grazed elbows and wondered just how long practice was going to drag on... He loved playing volleyball, he truly did, but there were some days when not even his favourite sport could save his sour mood. Tsukishima had left the clubroom door open for him, and as he went to walk in, something smacked into his chest.

“Ouch! Sorry Yamaguchi! Hey, you better hurry up, Daichi’s in a grump!”

“Oh great...” He doubted Nishinoya had heard him as the spirited libero sprinted for the gymnasium. With an exhale of hesitation, he entered the clubroom and changed. By the time he was done, he was all alone and last to be ready. Wringing his hands nervously, he stepped up to the gymnasium doors and attempted to slip in unnoticed.

“Yamaguchi! You’re late!” It was just his luck that Daichi spotted him. Nishinoya hadn’t been exaggerating when he said Daichi was ‘in a grump’. His dark eyebrows were furrowed with stress lines creased between them. His arms were folded authoritatively, a little tighter than his usual relaxed stance. No doubt about it, Daichi was bad-tempered. Yamaguchi nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in ill-habit, and attempting a cheerful smile in hope to lighten Daichi’s mood.

“A-aha, hi? Umm... I’m really sorry I’m late, Captain. It’s been... A bad day.” Daichi‘s stance relaxed very slightly, his eyes softening with a glance of sympathy.

“Still... You know the rules, Yamaguchi.”

“15 laps, right...?” His stomach churned and he bit his tongue, using pain to distract himself from that feeling of vomit. He wanted physical contact, a hug, someone ruffling his hair, even a hand shake! He didn’t want to run laps! Still, he resigned himself to his fate and speed-walked for the first lap. He could feel Daichi’s eyes staring into his back unimpressed, and quickly picked up the pace into a jog.

The others had already started on spiking practice, something Yamaguchi wished he was joining in with because he desperately needed practice. He turned his attention to his feet, hoping that keeping his head down would dispel the disorientated spell that had settled in his head. 

“ _ **Look out**_!” That was the only warning Yamaguchi got before a volleyball smacked into the side of his face with such great force, it could only have been spiked by Asahi. Immediately, through the ringing in his ears, Yamaguchi could hear the footsteps of the team racing over to him. He clutched his cheek with one hand and turned to face them with a tearful smile.

Just as he opened his mouth to reassure them that he was fine, it was okay, his stomach decided now was the perfect time to completely flip. He hacked on his own words, phlegm and bile vomited onto the floor. Yamaguchi wasn’t sure at which point he started to cry, but the team stood around him frozen in place for an instance. 

“Hinata, Kageyama, go and get a mop and bucket! Sugawara, fetch him some water! Asahi! Stop having a breakdown, he’s not dead yet!” A surprisingly gentle hand around his wrist tugged Yamaguchi away from the mess and through his watery eyes, he could make out that it was Tanaka. The wing spiker offered a comforting grin, a strong hand on Yamaguchi’s shoulder.

“No worries! Not the first time someone’s been sick in here! Probably not the last either!” Yamaguchi simply hiccupped through his sobs, shaking a little from how absolutely _awful_ he felt.

_‘I just wanted a hug!’_ Tanaka blinked, tilting his head slightly, and then opened his arms. 

“Okay then.”

“H-huh?”

“You just said you wanted a hug.” Yamaguchi jolted when he realised he must have said it out loud, but with Tanaka standing there, arms spread so invitingly... He was glad he’d made that mistake. He shuffled awkwardly into the empty space, jumping ever so slightly when brawny arms wrapped around him so tenderly, it felt more like _Kiyoko_ was the one hugging him. He felt, rather than heard, the soft chuckle Tanaka gave before he lifted his head to address the rest of the team.

“GROUP HUUUUG!” Just as with anything that Tanaka instigated, Noya was the first to fly over with Hinata right at his heels. They threw themselves into the affection, Hinata with a delighted squeal, and latched on from behind. Nishinoya gave the sort of hug that Yamaguchi would have expected from Tanaka, squeezing and muscular, a reliable kind of hug that would need prying off. Hinata was much gentler, but he wasn’t exactly tender. Hinata’s hugs were just... Squishy. Like a child. His hair smelt faintly of sweets, reinforcing the metaphor. With three people delivering the hugs he so craved, Yamaguchi felt a little lighter. He was expecting them to release him any moment now, sensing they’d made a difference. 

Quite opposite, something huge and comforting wrapped around the group, squishing them closer. Timid as he may be, Asahi gave the best hugs. Yamaguchi was tall enough that if he just leaned over a little bit, his head would rest on Asahi’s warm, padded shoulders, his chin just above Hinata’s fluff of candy smelling ginger. So he did. With a human counterpart to a purr, he nuzzled the side of his face that had been whacked by the volleyball into Asahi’s shoulder. The gentle giant laughed, pressing his own cheek into Yamaguchi’s hair. It was so warm... So soft, so comfy... Asahi hugs were best hugs.

His senses of cinder and smoked wood were suddenly infiltrated with a milky scent, something so motherly, it could only be Sugawara. Suga had squeezed in between Asahi and Tanaka, left in a position where he was mostly hugging Hinata, but he still had a secure arm thrown around Yamaguchi’s waist.

He’d dragged Daichi into the fray, the captain reaching over to give Yamaguchi a soft squeeze on the shoulder whilst he leaned against Tanaka. The other three second years had come from behind Noya, huddling over him and squeezing the small group in closer. It was rather cramped, a tangle of limbs where the team were intertwined, but it was comforting and something they quickly realised was creating a much deeper bond than any Karasuno team had ever had.

Of course, as with every situation that involved affection, or caring, or kindness, there were two teammates that lagged behind. Kageyama mopped the floor diligently, but his gaze wondered over to the group, betraying his curiosity at such a gathering. Tsukishima blatantly stared with distaste and the obvious reluctance to take even _one step closer_.

“Kageyama, Tsukishima, get over here~.” Sugawara’s tone was kind and gentle, but as he peered at the two through a gap between Kinoshita and Narita, his smile instantly made the duo unsure of their safety for the immediate future. Kageyama placed the mop against the wall, that single patch on the floor cleaner than the rest of the gym. He came over obediently and awkwardly pottered around the group until Daichi grappled him in a boyish headlock, pulling him into the huge pile of hugs with little hesitation. On the other hand, Tsukishima remained where he was, his face pulling into repulsion.

“Not that I don’t enjoy being crushed by sweaty, smelly teenage boys, but I think I’ll skip this one thanks.”

“Tsukki! Don’t be sarcastic! You owe me a hug anyways.”

“Since when?” Yamaguchi took a moment to pout in thought before turning his head away from Asahi’s shoulder.

“Since we were eleven, and you pushed me off the swing set!” Tsukishima tutted, his tongue clicking against the roof of his mouth as he reluctantly came over, each step deepening his grimace as if it physically pained him. Rolling his eyes at Tsukishima’s behaviour, Yamaguchi reached out and grabbed his wrist and tugged him in so that he was standing side by side with Asahi and Yamaguchi could twist to rest against them both comfortably. He took a deep breath, the scents of his team mingling, and their low, murmuring voices creating a low hum of friendship. 

“Why... Why did you guys do this for me...? Nishinoya looked up from where he was wrapped tightly around Yamaguchi’s waist with honest and truthful eyes, flickering with annoyance as if the question offended him on a deep, personal level.

“Because we’re your teammates! We’re always here for each other, and that includes hugging rights!” Yamaguchi laughed softly, feeling his heart swell with happiness.

Not only did he have his hugs, but he had his teammates. And he knew he would cherish that all his life.


End file.
